Road to the NatWest 6 Nations: Wins for Italy, Scotland, England and Ireland

Autumn international rugby is finally underway, and with every NatWest 6 Nations side in action on Saturday, preparations for this year's Championship began in earnest.

Ireland were the day's big winners, thumping South Africa at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin, but there were also wins for England, Scotland, and Italy at home to Argentina, Samoa, and Fiji respectively.

We've recapped the major stories from Saturday's action...

Ireland storm to impressive Springboks triumph

Joe Schmidt's men in green laid down a huge marker ahead of the 2018 NatWest 6 Nations with a storming 38-3 win over South Africa to kick off their autumn campaign.

Ireland were dominant all over the pitch; in the scrum, at the breakdown, and even out wide as the relatively inexperienced wingers Jacob Stockdale and Andrew Conway impressed.

Man of the match deservedly went to Johnny Sexton, who marshalled the game perfectly in Dublin, and kicked his side into an early lead before Conway notched the first try of the evening - and his first for his country - after Conor Murray's box kick.

The Springboks got on the board thanks to Elton Jantjies' penalty, but they faded late on as Ireland went through the gears and the floodgates opened.

A thundering break from Stockdale set up replacement Rhys Ruddock to score the first of three Ireland tries in the final ten minutes, Rob Herring and Stockdale completing the rout.

Schmidt's charges now look forward to Tests against Fiji and Argentina in the coming weeks - but on the basis of this display, their NatWest 6 Nations rivals have cause for concern.

England were not at their very best, but the two-time defending NatWest 6 Nations champions still had enough in the tank to beat Argentina 21-8 at Twickenham.

The result was no doubt made more comfortable by Los Pumas missing five shots at goal, but despite missing a host of players to injury, Eddie Jones' men kept their guests from crossing the try-line.

In the continued absence of Billy Vunipola, Nathan Hughes produced a typically dominant performance at No.8, capping it off with his first international try in the first half - brilliantly gathering George Ford's expansive pass and rumbling over - to make it 14-3 at the break.

Semesa Rokoduguni came on in the first half with Mike Brown injured, and marked his first appearance for the Red Rose in a year with a try to stretch England's lead, with Henry Slade this time the provider as Argentina were stretched.

Jones' charges will have to go up a level next week as they prepare to take on Australia, and while they are now unbeaten in 11 Tests at Twickenham, the Wallabies were the last side to defeat them there in the 2015 Rugby World Cup.

A fast start would have likely been in the pre-match plans for Gregor Townsend, so Stuart Hogg's score after just 90 seconds will have ticked plenty of boxes.

It came thanks to Tommy Seymour's excellent kick, and slightly fortuitous bounce, but in this game you make your own luck - something Huw Jones didn't need any of as he burst through the Samoa defence.

There was still time for more as man-of-the-match Stuart McInally charged over before the break, while the hooker had his second of the game off the back of a driving maul.

Games between Scotland and Samoa never fail to disappoint and, while defences could have been tighter, Townsend will have been thrilled with his side's six-try showing.

Brilliant work from Lee Jones saw Alex Dunbar wrestle his way over the line, while Peter Horne ensured some breathing space late on as he burst through to emphatically wrap up the contest.

When Italy met Fiji in the summer they were denied by a last-gasp Ben Volavola drop goal but there was to be no repeat when the teams faced off in Catania.

Taking advantage of a strong scrum to dominate the possession and territory battles, Italy were able to suffocate their opponents on their way to a 19-10 success.

Carlo Canna pulled the strings from fly-half, while tighthead prop Simone Ferrari grabbed the first try from close range to give Italy a 10-3 lead.

Leone Nakarawa hit back as Fiji levelled before the break, but it was Italy who dominated the second period.
Making the most of their strength up front, they notched three further penalties, two from Canna and one from debutant Ian McKinley to open up a nine-point lead.

In the meantime, Volavola had been sent to the sin-bin for an intentional knock-on, as the Azzurri squeezed the life out of their opponents.

Conor O'Shea's side will now turn their attentions to Argentina before finishing against South Africa as they look to build momentum into the 2018 NatWest 6 Nations.

Wales threw off the shackles against Australia in an attempt to go about their business with free-flowing creative verve but in the end, they were bested by a clinical Wallabies outfit at the Principality Stadium.

Warren Gatland's side were defeated 29-21, unable to bring their frustrating record against Australia - which now stands at 13 straight defeats - to an end.

The Welsh did impress in spells, with Jonathan Davies and Gareth Davies combining to help tee up Steff Evans for a superb first-half try.

Replacement wing Hallam Amos also dotted down at the death to help give the hosts something to shout about but individual errors were emphatically punished by Australia throughout and ultimately proved decisive.

Gatland was also handed a headache as he plots the remainder of Wales' autumn campaign, with winger Evans and centre Jonathan Davies both injured in the final move of the match.

Guy Novès had named a new-look French team for their clash with the world champions New Zealand, and while they eventually fell short, losing 38-18, there were some promising performances from Les Bleus.

The half-back pairing of Antoine Dupont and Anthony Belleau have a combined age of 41 and just three caps between them, but the former in particular shone in the rain in Paris - making 90 metres and three clean breaks on his first start.

Voting for the 2018 NatWest 6 Nations Player of the Championship is now open

19 March 2018, 8:00pm

After another thrilling conclusion to the NatWest 6 Nations, the shortlist has been revealed for the prestigious NatWest Player of the Championship featuring four Ireland players, one Italian player and one French player.

Tadhg Furlong was named NatWest 6 Nations Man of the Match for Ireland's win over England

19 March 2018, 1:52pm

The final round of the 2018 NatWest 6 Nations certainly didn't fail to deliver as Ireland secured just a third Grand Slam in their history, Scotland edged their way past Italy at the death in a thriller and Wales did enough to see off France in Cardiff.

Tadhg Furlong was named NatWest 6 Nations Man of the Match for Ireland's win over England

19 March 2018, 1:52pm

The final round of the 2018 NatWest 6 Nations certainly didn't fail to deliver as Ireland secured just a third Grand Slam in their history, Scotland edged their way past Italy at the death in a thriller and Wales did enough to see off France in Cardiff.

Tadhg Furlong was named NatWest 6 Nations Man of the Match for Ireland's win over England

19 March 2018, 1:52pm

The final round of the 2018 NatWest 6 Nations certainly didn't fail to deliver as Ireland secured just a third Grand Slam in their history, Scotland edged their way past Italy at the death in a thriller and Wales did enough to see off France in Cardiff.